Stories from New England

IVC & JVC Volunteers Work Together to Build Up Lives of Immigrants and One Another

Boston’s Casserly House is a crossroads where Jesuit-minded volunteers bridge across generations not only to serve vulnerable immigrants struggling to build a life in the United States — but also to help one another on their own life journeys. For nearly a decade,...

Led Back to the Fold

by Robin Cuddy Hundreds of students at the Genesis Center in Providence, Rhode Island have touched Sandy Yates’s heart. Before becoming an Ignatian volunteer, Sandy had a twenty-eight year career in nursing and cared for sick children in the Intensive Care Unit, the...

Mercy and Compassion to Refugees – the IVC Way

“Sayid (name changed to protect privacy) is a heart surgeon from Syria who is very well educated, speaks three languages, is a well-known and well-respected doctor in his community,” describes Bob Sliney, Ignatian Volunteer serving with Catholic Charities Refugee...

Transformed by His Love

“Spiritual retreats ending homelessness” is the tagline of the Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP), an IVC partner agency. Ignatian Volunteers serve as Retreat Coordinators in three of ISP’s 24 cities: Boston, Chicago, and Cleveland.ISP’s successful retreat model...

Opening a Door to Compassion

“I view my finding IVC as a new beginning, opening a new door,” says Greg Howes, 46-year-old president and owner of Howes Insurance Group in Concord, Massachusetts, and Ignatian Volunteer. “I don’t really fit the IVC model,” he continues. “I’m not retired, not over...

Transformed by His Love: Jay’s Story

Jay Burke is a first-year Ignatian Volunteer who serves as Associate Coordinator for the Ignatian Spirituality Project in Boston. Before joining IVC, Jay had a 30-year career in marketing for community banks and then began a second career in bereavement counseling for...

IVC and Cristo Rey Network Schools

IVC partners with Cristo Rey Network Schools in 6 regions - New York Metro, Chicago, Cleveland, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and New England, matching Ignatian Volunteers' talents with the schools' tagline, "the school that works". Cristo Rey Network schools provide a high...

Coming Home by Cristina Nelson, IVC New England

Since September, I have been volunteering at Hearth, Inc., a 21-year-old non-profit agency headquartered in Boston’s South End. Hearth’s mission is to end elder homelessness. It works towards this goal by operating affordable supportive housing units. This means that...

A Commute Towards Happiness

As a semi-retired Ignatian Volunteer Corps member, I think to myself, “Why do I feel so much happier than my fellow commuters?” Sister Nancy greets me with “Are you up for teaching a class this morning?” or “I’ve got a new one for you to register. Let me know whether you think we should take her.” I never know what awaits me, but that is part of the appeal. Refugees and immigrants also never know what awaits them. I am one of them!